Gunsmoke Valentine
by Shangri-La
Summary: It's Valentine's day- Midvalley is sick, Dominique is playing nurse, and bitter memories resurface. 'Tears flowed down Legato’s pale cheeks, mixing with the blood. Those words cut him more sharply than the blade currently dragging across his flesh...'


A late Valentine's Day present from me to you! This would've been up sooner, but I couldn't log on until today cuz of some stupid problem. Oh well. At least I didn't get another singing telegram in the middle of class from a secret admirer Friday! Seriously, I'm not vain - I don't expect to have secret admirers - this really happened last year. VERY embarrassing! *scratches back of head nervously* Haha. Review!  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Midvalley, what are you gawking at now, pray tell?" Legato, spearing a piece of chocolate cake with his fork, languidly let one golden eye focus on the musician sitting opposite him, his velvety voice deliciously melodious and dull as always. His fellow gun-ho gun was, as usual, grinning away at something, chair tipped back on its two hind legs.  
  
"Have you noticed the decorations?" Midvalley chuckled, winking at a blonde waitress as she flounced by, ridiculously high heels clicking decidedly as she haughtily turned up her nose at him. As Legato had predicted, he was making eyes with every girl within a ten yard radius. "It's a special occasion."  
  
Legato paused in his food fest to gaze disinterestedly at the paper hearts strewn here and there, the pink and red streamers swaying gaily in the gentle breeze that found its way in from the open windows. "What kind of bar is this?" he questioned suspiciously, returning to chowing down on the cake once more.  
  
"It's a light and cheep one, but never mind that," Midvalley waved a hand in dismissal. "Everyone's getting into the spirit. This new holiday used to be something they only celebrated on earth, but now they've brought it to Gunsmoke."  
  
"Hmm." Legato, terribly involved in his rich dessert, was beginning to wish his companion would just shut up.  
  
"It's a day for lovers. People give each other hearts - "  
  
"Sadistic spiders."  
  
"Not real hearts, Legato. Paper ones. If you love someone, today is the day to tell them, and usually, there's a lot of candy."  
  
That got Legato's attention. He sat up a bit straighter in his seat, a pink tongue darting out to slowly lick the dark icing off his lips, enticing and seductive in a way all its own. "Candy?" he murmured thoughtfully, having just polished off the remains of his cake.  
  
"Well, it's what I've heard anyway. Valentine's day is what it's called." Midvalley pushed out his chair, the legs scraping sharply on the dusty floor. With a raised eyebrow, he stooped to pick up his saxophone, straightened, and, with a wolfish grin, remarked, "I'm gonna try my luck with the blonde over there. See ya' back at headquarters, boss."  
  
Legato watched him leave with a placid expression that crumbled almost immediately after he was out of sight. It was.Valentine's day? His golden eye slid shut in almost panic, and he bowed his head slightly to let it shake from side to side in slow, deliberate motions. Don't care. You shouldn't care. Shouldn't care. Why do you care...?  
  
He'd tried to leave all the stupid holidays of earth behind, just like he'd left the planet, but some people just couldn't let sleeping dogs lie. Biting his lower lip, he rose slowly from the table and started out the door, raising a hand flippantly when someone tried to stop him and collect the check. He was in no mood.  
  
Everyone had past loves - even Legato. It was funny to think he'd allowed his heart to be broken by a simple human, but it had happened, and he, seeing himself for the piece of dirt he was, had promised to not even care anymore. But somehow...memories had a mind of their own.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Midvalley had, miraculously, sweet-talked the blonde waitress into taking a break and heading down towards the nearest coffee shop with him, and was he ever proud of the accomplishment. The woman had a reputation as 'the dragon lady', and was notorious for turning down would-be suitors, so it was almost like fifteen minutes of fame to have her walking down the street arm in arm with him.  
  
It would've been perfect if something had stopped the flow of Midvalley's speech and make him look like a bumbling idiot as he paused in the middle of the street and stared mindlessly at two children.  
  
Unbeknownst to the impatient woman, one was Zazie, the youngest gun-ho gun and one innocent looking little boy. Well, at least he was being now. The other child was a petite girl who sat perched upon a stone wall, clothed in a pale yellow dress accented by a sunflower pinned in her raven curls. Thin and pretty and smelling of lilacs in the dusty surroundings, she was currently reaching out both arms expectantly, accepting a box of chocolates from the boy slightly below her.  
  
Zazie handed them up to her with a serious frown, looking very much like Legato did after being informed of a shortage of snow cones in the high point of summer.  
  
She smiled briefly at him before tearing open the heart-shaped package and popping one of the chocolates into her mouth, commenting something that Midvalley could not hear. Then, hopping down, she leaned in with the coolness of Midvalley's date about her, and brushed her lips against his cheek, apparently thanking him.  
  
Looks like Valentine's day is a big hit, thought Midvalley as he recovered from the initial shock, smiling and gesturing towards the nearby café as they continued on.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Legato had been dismissed from Knives, but for once, he was eager to be alone without his Master. So, he flopped down on his cot and lay in the dark, struggling to breathe in the stifling heat. His room had no source of ventilation, so, with the door closed, it was hotter than the desert, and to cool off, he tugged off his black turtleneck and simply lay back, golden eyes visible in thin slits.  
  
He was sad.  
  
That, in itself, was a very funny thought. Apathetic, sadistic, psychotic Legato, who truly believed all humanity was the dirt beneath Knives' feet and should thereby be destroyed, was feeling the only wound that really hurt him anymore. An emotional wound - something he did not even think he was capable of acquiring.  
  
Stretching out his lanky body, branded by raw wounds and dark scars, he tried to gain a more comfortable position, but none was to be found. Already, his dark blue hair, thick and jaggedly cut, was damp with sweat.  
  
And, on the first Valentine's day ever on the planet of Gunsmoke, with Midvalley out and about and Zazie experiencing his first crush, Legato Bluesummers celebrated alone with a loathing spirit and a sleep-induced dream.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Pale, slender fingers fiddling with jet black hair, trying to coax the silken strands into a ponytail, Dominique Cyclops, female gun-ho gun (and probably the most attractive one at that) watched almost disinterestedly as her bath tub filled with warm water, steam wafting just above the liquid surface.  
  
She sighed and then cast her dirty clothes into a corner of the tiled bathroom, slipping carefully into the water. After soaking for some time and then scrubbing her skin clean, the bubbles slipping and sliding across her skin, she decided she better get out before her skin wrinkled and heaved herself out of the now lukewarm bath water, wrapping a black robe about her thin form as she waited to dry.  
  
She was just turning down the covers to prepare for a long, good night's rest when a thumping noise alarmed her, and she whirled to face her door, from which the sounds were issuing. It sounded quite strange actually, like someone was throwing themselves against her wall.  
  
"Midvalley?" she demanded in shock when she had swung open her door to answer the maker of the commotion, only to find a very sick musician rolling pitifully about in the hallway. "What's wrong with you?"  
  
He moaned loudly, continuing to writhe on the floor with arms wrapped firmly around his stomach. From the scene he was creating, one was liable to think he had been inflicted with a mortal wound and was in the last throes of his death.  
  
"Are you hurt?" she asked a bit more seriously, kneeling at his side and helping him as best she could into a siting position, but the man only flopped back helplessly onto the floor again. "Did you do something to anger Knives? Legato?"  
  
"T-Tony!" he choked out, immediately covering his mouth and swallowing rapidly, obviously struggling with keeping down his lunch.  
  
"Tony?"  
  
"He's a cook at this restaurant that I..." He trailed off, seeming to be lost in thoughts or deathly afraid as he paled, eyes widening. For a moment, he remained still, looking the part of a scared animal, and then he was stumbling to his feet and dashing past her, the door to the bathroom slamming behind him.  
  
"Food poisoning?" she guessed aloud with a frown, tightening the cloth belt that secured her robe shut. From inside the confines of her bathroom, she could hear the disgusting noises of Midvalley's stomach rebelling. How wonderful. Now he'd be in her bathroom all night, locked safe away with her pajamas and tooth brush and everything else she needed to go through her nightly ritual of preparing for bed.  
  
Half an hour later, Midvalley slowly emerged, looking a bit green, and opened his mouth to speak. The words at first did not come, and when he jerked forward, she feared he might vomit, but, with a loud gulp, he eventually forced out a sentence. "Dominique...do you have anything for nausea?"  
  
"In the medicine cab - "  
  
Before she could finish, he had done an about face and slid across the cool tiles on his knees, fleeing back to the toilet where he proceeded to empty his stomach of contents once more.  
  
She followed after, ignoring the foul stench, and knelt down beside him, in time growing sympathetic. She would never admit it, but somehow, she felt close to Midvalley, like he was the nearest thing to a friend she had. With a gentle touch to his shoulder, which was trembling violently, his back arching every now and then, she waited for him to finish and then sunk back onto her heels, still holding him up as he weakly leaned into her palms.  
  
"Sorry..." he murmured, eyes drooping drowsily. "I didn't mean to put you out...but I was on my way to my room...and I realized I didn't have any medicine..."  
  
"It's ok." She winced as his bleary-eyed gaze tried to focus on her, dark eyes reflecting the agony of sickness. Rising, she dampened a cloth in the sink and pressed it to his forehead, murmuring, "You probably shouldn't wander too far. I'll give you some pills to take when you get back to your room. Go straight to bed, alright?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, waving his hand exhaustedly. Steeling himself for the long walk around the next few corridors, he started up with resolve. The determination, however, had wavered distinctly within the first few steps, and by the time he had actually made it into the bedroom, he was quickly weakening and in fear of crumbling to the ground. He had barely made it to the bed before collapsing upon the mattress with a groan of despair. Stomach reeling and spiraling, feeling dangerously unstable, he curled into a ball and tried to keep whatever remained inside of him down there. He could've sworn he had coughed up a lung or something.  
  
"You can't possibly make it to your room, can you?" Dominique cried, now frustrated with the situation. She had just wanted to sleep!  
  
"I don't have the flu. Just food poisoning. We can share your bed. I promise not to puke on you."  
  
"Knives has forbid that gun-ho guns of the opposite gender sleep in the same room, let along bed," she sniffed, crossing her arms with a scowl. "You know how he feels about the humans repopulating."  
  
Midvalley pulled the covers up over his head, his body beginning to shake uncontrollably again. "I think I'm going to die!" he exclaimed in agony.  
  
Shifting her weight from foot to foot in a debating manner, trying not to bite her bottom lip but not succeeding, she finally made her decision and crawled in beside him. "Just for tonight," she relented, finding herself pressed up against him due to the small width of her cot.  
  
"Dominique...?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Thanks," he whispered sleepily, pulling the covers in tighter around himself and whimpering painfully.  
  
"Are you cold?"  
  
"Just a little. You wouldn't....happen to have another blanket would you?"  
  
"No, but I'm cold too." She didn't mention that this was because he was hogging the covers all to himself. Wriggling closer to him, she snuggled against his chest, deciding that sharing their body heat would be better than freezing. Besides, he felt nice...firm and warm and comfortable to cuddle against. Hiding her face in his shoulder, she smiled, and her hand snaked up around to cup the back of his neck. So what if she was flirting. He was sick tonight, and if he ever spoke of her actions again in a way that was less than flattering, she'd remind him of his illness and pass it off as a hallucination. Nothing was going to happen tonight - just a little bit of innocent affection under the guise of sympathy. She was sure of that.  
  
Although Midvalley wasn't sure what was happening, he did realize that she was perfectly relaxed against him. And, for once in his life, he felt something for a woman other than just plain lust. There was a deeper emotion - one that told him he'd care drastically if the next morning, when this had all ended, nothing changed between them and they remained as distant as before. This was a turning point in their icy relationship, one he'd been waiting for without even knowing it. Deep down, he believed he'd always felt a little something for her, but had never really had the time or courage to act on it.  
  
He slid his arms about her waist, holding close her slim figure. Round and soft where he was flat and hard, curvy and smaller, just the right fit as she nearly melted into him... Chuckling, his soft breath tickling her ear and sending a shiver coursing through her body, he brushed his lips across her cheek. Since when had her skin gotten so smooth and soft? His fingers tangled in her dark locks. And her hair was silky...  
  
"Dominique," he whispered, mouth pressed against hers in a wonderful kiss for a brief moment.  
  
"Yeah?" Her heart was thudding wildly. What seemed to be long ago, her limbs had turned to jelly.  
  
"I...I have to throw up!" Tearing himself out of her grasp, he rolled out of the bed and scrambled back into the bathroom, leaving her feeling highly disappointed and still just a little bit warm inside.  
  
But what was the point of love when your a gun-ho gun destined to die?  
  
~~~~~  
  
Legato never dreamed, so this was very odd, disturbing even, when he started to recall memories in the way of a sleep-lulled vision. He wasn't dreaming in the way that he believed he was really there, but in the way that, somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized he wasn't really there, but just remembering something. And he couldn't wake up.  
  
He was younger now, standing with his hands pressed to a store window in the cold, winter air of earth, warm breath fogging up the glass. Before him was a display of rings - nothing incredibly fancy, just pretty and light.  
  
It was Valentine's day. The scene of a teenager with short, neatly cut hair, a peculiar shade of blue, dressed casually in khakis and a loose, black turtleneck with his football jacket worn over top for warmth, school emblem emblazoned on the back, gazing wistfully at those rings, only made the day seem all the more romantic.  
  
Reaching a hand into his pocket, he jangled his money around, a wad of bills and some loose change. It was enough, but was it right? He smiled. Sure. He cared a lot about this girl. And she loved him. Someday, they were going to get married - or so he hoped.  
  
Ten minutes later, he was exiting the store with a small, wrapped box tucked safe away in his jacket. The ring he had chosen was sterling silver and adorned with crystal verdant leaves lined in gold, a white stone in a sunburst cut* set in the middle.  
  
Whistling, he started out to Ravie's house, where she met him a hug and a playful ruffling of his hair. From there, they progressed to dinner, had a wonderful conversation and meal, and then started out back on the street to go home. And he still hadn't given her the ring.  
  
It was a bit colder now, and she had neglected to bring a heavy coat, so he shrugged off his and laid it around her shoulders, smiling when she thanked him. They were passing under the brilliance of a streetlight now, and it had begun to snow. Legato tilted his face upward to watch the dancing ice crystals descend, realizing the scenery was all too perfect.  
  
"Put your hands in the pockets so you don't get cold," he told her with a lighthearted grin.  
  
She did as told, smiling mischievously when her hands brushed the tiny box. "Ah ha!" she exclaimed, pulling it out in triumph. "You got me something!" Without waiting for his consent, she ripped it open and had the piece of jewelry on her hand in seconds, admiring it beneath the soft glow of the street light. "You know me very well, don't you?" she asked, shaking her short, dark hair from her eyes.  
  
"I try."  
  
"It's perfect. Thank you." She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, pulling him firmly against her.  
  
Laughing in joyous abandonment, he swung her around, her feet flying off the ground as they spun, and then set her down again, receiving a kiss for his end of the gift exchange. Their first kiss... Ravie was a very chaste girl who set strict ground rules for them, and he respected that. Maybe even loved her more for it. She had class.  
  
He walked her home and then, once safely depositing her at her porch and greeting her parents, he jogged briskly around the next block to his foster family's apartment.  
  
She made him so happy.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The next morning, in Legato's dream anyway, he found himself driving to Ravie's place again. They had another date, and he was very much looking forward to it, so much that his heart was actually exceeding its normal rate. It nearly burst in horror when he saw what awaited him.  
  
Police cars swarmed the front of her driveway and just outside in the street. He didn't bother to park - just jumped on out and ran at top speed up to the nearest cop, panting out his demand for an explanation.  
  
She barely even paid any attention to him, muttering something offhanded like, "Armed robbery happened here."  
  
"How is Ravie?! Was she hurt?!"  
  
"Who's Ravie?"  
  
Legato was having trouble controlling his anger now, almost exploding at the insolence of this woman. "She's seventeen! She has short, black hair and brown eyes! She is short and beautiful and I need to know she's alright!" The words left his mouth in a scream.  
  
"The seventeen year old girl died. Sorry." The woman was soon called away to attend to more important things.  
  
Legato just stood there, feeling as if everything in the world had stopped. Ravie could not be dead! He wouldn't allow it! He just wouldn't!  
  
He felt his head hit the concrete of the sidewalk as he fainted, felt the blood flooding around him as everything went black, and he felt the will to live leave him along with his consciousness.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Legato was released from the hospital three days later, having suffered minor injuries to the head. People tried to get him to stay home and relax, but he couldn't. If he did, he'd go crazy. So, he returned to school, and within the first hour, tragedy struck.  
  
A girl who he knew to be the girlfriend of a bully and gang member had a locker next to his, and as he glanced dully upon her, a flash of silver and emerald green sparkling on her hand caught his gaze. There was only one in the world like it, he had been assured. It was Ravie's ring.  
  
Without a thought, he slammed the locker shut, right in face, almost catching her hand in it. "Where'd you get that?" he growled, grabbing the ring and trying to rip it off her finger. It was too small though and got caught, causing her to cry out. "WHERE?!"  
  
"My boyfriend!" she squealed, stumbling back away from him and fleeing down the hall. "Get away from me!"  
  
"No problem," he whispered fiercely, spinning about and sprinting down the hall in a dead run.  
  
~~~~~  
  
He found Infinity, as was the young man's name, smoking a cigarette in the woods next to the school, reclining on an old bench and staring lazily up at the gray sky. Nearby stood two of his nameless friends, conversing in low tones of voices.  
  
Legato had no restraint as he rushed upon them. He almost thought himself invincible at this point, and even if he wasn't, he no longer cared for his life. He just wanted revenge.  
  
The first thing he did was sweep down upon Infinity, grab a handful of his greasy, blonde hair, yank his head up, and slam it violently down upon the metal bench, over and over again, screaming in rage with each attack. His victim struggled and shrieked in pain, but could not escape. Even when his two friends tried to take Legato, the adrenaline-charged man turned on them like a wild beast and came at them with no real attack strategy, kicking and clawing and tackling onto the ground, pinning one of them there and scratching at his face with dull nails.  
  
And then he was lifted away and thrown on his back into the snow. A hard boot crushed his face, grinding down and breaking his nose, letting forth a spew of dark life fluid.  
  
"You killed Ravie!" he gasped, grabbing the leg connected to that boot and throwing the boy aside. Again, he lunged at Infinity, but was carelessly tossed aside once more. The steel blade of a pocket knife dove deep into his flesh, and he let out an animalistic cry.  
  
"Who cares?" sneered Infinity, plunging the knife into Legato's stomach and ripping it open. "She was an idiotic loser who insulted my girlfriend. No one will miss an ugly nobody like that."  
  
Tears flowed down Legato's pale cheeks, mixing with the blood. Those words cut him more sharply than the blade currently dragging across his flesh. He realized then that he was going to die at the hands that killed Ravie, and he couldn't change it. He was going to bleed to death all alone as they walked away and left him, but what really bugged him the most was...Infinity had insulted Ravie - who wasn't even alive anymore, thanks to him - and he could do absolutely nothing about it.  
  
He let golden eyes drift shut - Ravie had always told him he had the most beautiful eyes; they weren't frightening at all - and let his tense body relax. Yes, even if someone did find him in time, it'd be better not to go on in this existence. Things were going to change. No matter what.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Midvalley cracked open one eye and squinted, trying to determine when and where he was. He soon came to realize that his stomach still ached from hours of battling a terrible virus, and his head was resting in Dominique's lap, who sat on the bed behind him, back leaning against the headboard. Her hands rested gently on his shoulders, and her head dropped forward, long hair concealing her face. Still clothed in the black robe, he vaguely recalled their sharing just a few moments of romance before his food poisoning interrupted with a vengeance, ripping him from her arms and sending him running back into the bathroom. He should've remembered to take the medicine before crawling into bed.  
  
Nevertheless, Dominique was not upset with him. Rather, she had sat up with him through the night, comforted him when he thought he was going to throw up all his major organs, washed his face of sweat with a cold cloth when he was too weak to even move, and had rubbed his back reassuringly when he moaned and groaned and complained to her in a feverish frenzy.  
  
He pushed himself into a sitting position and stretched, listening to his back crack and pop. Just feeling the pleasant sensation caused him to remember the position she still slept in, and he pitied her. "You must really like me to sleep like that all night," he breathed out on a sigh, swinging her up into his arms and then stretching her long form across the bed. A light kiss on the forehead as he pulled the covers up over her and a whisper of, "Get some rest, huh?" and he was off, walking a bit shakily back to his own room.  
  
She, in a state of semi-consciousness, muttered a reply and rolled over onto her stomach.  
  
Happy Valentine's day, she mused, a smile curling her lips.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Zazie smiled as he reread the handmade Valentine the little girl in the yellow dress had presented him with on the day before. He had at first had his doubts about Valentine's Day, but some fuzzy feelings and a cute little brunette later, he was all for it!  
  
Hey, even a gun-ho gun should have some fun now and then.  
  
Putting on a mask of seriousness now, the blonde boy tucked the letter under his pillow where he hoped no one would find it and headed out the door to report to Legato, who had scheduled to see him three nights ago.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Legato gritted his teeth as he lay in bed, fuming angrily over the memories that had arisen against his will. He hated Valentine's Day - hated it with a hungry passion! Detestable memories... He'd almost forgotten how he had once resided at earth, before becoming almost fatally injured. After recovering, he had felt drawn to Gunsmoke, where he had met and come to serve Knives. Why did his mind insist on torturing him? He couldn't even trust his body not to betray him!  
  
Oh well, he next thought to himself, rising and hurriedly dressing for a new day of work. At least it was over, and Knives would soon assure that the humans wouldn't live to see the holiday when it rolled around next year.  
  
*~*Finito*~*  
  
~~~~~  
  
*Sunburst cut - very pretty! I was ordering my class ring the other day and this was the option for a stone, but I decided to get a protected emblem instead. Anyhow, to paint a picture, a sunburst cut is...umm...ok, last episode of Cowboy Bebop - you know the close-up of Julia's eye? It's like that, only a different color without the pupil and Spike's reflection. I know that's a terrible way of describing it, but it's hard to explain and I'm brain dead.  
  
Anyhow, I'd appreciate it greatly if everyone who read this would review! I really would like to know what people think - I mean, I'm not writing this for no reason at all! It's for you, ALL FOR YOU! You could at least show SOME appreciation!!!  
  
Hahaha...I just felt like having an outburst. ^___^  
  
In reality, it really makes my day when someone reviews, since I assume that I'm a horrible writer (I sometimes have a self-confidence issue, but don't worry! I have plenty of friends, hobbies, a stable family life, and even a date to whatever school event is occurring at the time - I'm not some lonely psycho holed up in my room writing fan fiction! Now that that is clear, I can move on). If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I think I've stressed at least a million times that I appreciate them.  
  
~*~*~*~Shangri-La 


End file.
